Back to main menu

Making Changes to Survey123 Forms

Survey123 Forms are created through the following process:

  1. Create form in Survey123 Connect

  2. Edit XLSForm spreadsheet to add questions and change parameters

  3. Preview form in Survey123 Connect to test validation, skip logic, etc.

  4. Publish the form to your Portal

    a. This step creates a feature service and data schema to match your questions

    b. Note: at this point you can no longer change certain aspects of the form without recreating the service and losing your data

Types of Changes Allowed

Provided your edits don't change the schema of the feature service, you can republish your survey without deleting and re-creating the feature service. Only the form item will be updated. The following table describes the changes that can be made to a published survey that would not cause loss of data. 

Changes Done without republishing?
Reorder questions Yes
Delete questions Yes
Update labels in questions Yes
Update labels in groups Yes
Add, update, or delete choices in lists* Yes
Update constraints, defaults, hints, required question status Yes
Update calculations, choice filters Yes
Delete questions or repeats Yes
Change question types No
Add new questions No
Add repeats No
Add new notes Yes
Update repeat name No
Add groups Yes

*If a field has a domain the choices in the choice list can only be deleted to limit the options. If you would like to add choices for a text field you can do so but it will not create a domain in the feature service.

See http://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/publishsurvey.htm#ESRI_SECTION1_97A01E11C37D401EB95C7D22EF251F66 for more information.

Survey Sheet:

Survey123 XLSForm Column Can be updated without feature service updates? Comments
type Yes Change of type must be compatible with field type (ex: text to select_one, date to dateTime)
name No  
label::en Yes  
hint Yes  
constraint Yes  
constraint_message Yes  
required Yes  
required_message Yes  
appearance Yes  
default Yes Must be compatible with any domain values
readonly Yes  
relevant Yes  
calculation Yes  
choice_filter Yes  
repeat_count Yes  
label::language(..) Yes  
hint::language(..) Yes  
media::audio Yes  
media::image Yes  
body::accuracyThreshold Yes  
bind::esri:fieldType No  
bind::esri:fieldLength Yes Can only shorten, cannot lengthen
bind::esri:fieldAlias    
body::esri:inputMask Yes  
bind::esri:parameters Yes  
bind::esri:saveIncomplete Yes  

Choices Sheet:

Column Can this be updated? Comments
list_name No  
name No  
label Yes  
image Yes  
label::language(..) Yes  

Notes:

  • If you add a new list for a given field this will not cause a domain to be applied to a field in the feature service.

  • You can delete choices but you cannot add them to a list that has been applied to a field with a domain.

Settings Sheet:

Column Can this be updated? Comments
form_title Yes  
form_id No  
instance_name Yes  
submission_url No  
default_language Yes  
version Yes  
style Yes  

Workarounds

If you need to add questions to your survey or change the choices of a question that points to a field with a domain you must modify the feature service before modifying the survey to avoid the feature service being republished.

Adding questions:

  • Add the feature service to a new map with full editing control or add the feature service to a map in ArcGIS Pro.

  • Add fields to your feature service that correspond with the question types you would like to create.

  • Add questions to your survey form that correspond to the field names you just added to your feature service.

Changing question choices:

  • Use the Solution Deployment Add-In in ArcGIS Pro to modify the values of the feature service domain.

  • Modify the choices sheet making sure the values in the name column match the new values in the domain.

There are certain types of questions that can be added without affecting the existing schema of the feature service.

  • Groups – can be used to break down questions in your survey into logical sections

  • Notes – can be used to provide users with critical information or feedback to help capture data more efficiently

All other types of questions can be added without affecting the existing schema by using the bind::esri:fieldType of null. This could prove useful for questions that are used to drive the relevant logic of the survey or to gather information used in a calculation.

Back to main menu